(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, Mayor Vincent C. Gray opened a long-anticipated ramp from southbound DC 295 the inbound 11th Street Bridge that will decrease commuters’ travel times, reduce cut-through traffic on local streets and further efforts to create a sustainable, world-class waterfront in the District of Columbia.

“Under my administration, the District Department of Transportation is providing historic results for our residents through the 11th Street Bridge Project and larger Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI),” said Mayor Gray. “In opening this ramp, we are providing a long-missing direct connection between two major freeways that will significantly decrease commuter travel times, reduce traffic in local neighborhoods and foster revitalization and economic development on both sides of the Anacostia River.”

In celebrating the milestone, which comes during DDOT’s 10th anniversary year, Mayor Gray led a contingent that included DDOT Director Terry Bellamy, federal partners and local community representatives in a ceremonial first drive from southbound DC 295 over the ramp and across the inbound 11th Street Freeway Bridge to the Southeast-Southwest Freeway. Following the ceremonial crossing, the ramp officially opened to the public.

Both DC-295 and the Southeast-Southwest Freeway/Interstate 395 were built in the 1960s, but until now were not directly linked to each other. For almost a half-century, the lack of any direct connection forced travelers off each highway onto surface streets in order to reach the other highway, clogging neighborhoods with cut-through traffic and wasting travelers’ time.

Today’s opening provides the first of the two long-missing ramp connections between the two adjacent freeways and is being built as part of the 11th Street Bridge Project. The second ramp, connecting the outbound 11th Street Freeway Bridge to northbound DC-295 is scheduled to open this fall along with other new ramps connecting both directions of DC 295/Interstate 295 with the project’s third, or local, bridge.

While individual results will vary, the new ramp could cut 10 minutes off the trip of the average daily commuter. Projected over a full work year, the time savings adds up to an extra 43 hours per commuter – the equivalent of more than a week of “found” time.

“Completing these missing freeway connections -- and the benefits they provide -- is a cornerstone of the 11th Street Bridge Project and a fundamental reason why it was the first major bridge and roadway project undertaken as part of DDOT’s AWI program,” said Director Bellamy. “Infrastructure improvements are critical to making communities on both sides of the Anacostia more livable and connecting them across the river.”

The new DC 295 southbound ramp is projected to carry 34,000 cars a day by the year 2030 with the second ramp (to northbound 295), opening this fall, projected to carry 37,500 cars daily.

To date, the 11th Street Bridge Project is the largest in DDOT’s history and one of a series of transportation, environmental, economic, community and recreation projects included in the 30-year, $10 billion AWI program.